Teachers ‘must tell parents about pupils’ gender changes’

Good news 👍

Question asked of Keegan today. Apparently the review will include clubs and assemblies:

twitter.com/cforwomenuk/status/1648007561591791619?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

Quite a good post from Sex Matters on this:

sex-matters.org/posts/updates/could-be-clearer/

I'm not sold on the uniform answer (but I understand why they gave it). Nascent paraphilias shouldn't be encouraged.

That's where all the charities have popped up to 'help.' And some have been brought in by the local nhs in order to try to ease anxiety about gender and sexuality- a Gp friend did exactly this in response to rising Gp appt about sex and gender.

His intentions were good (he's basically GC) but I don't think it had the intended outcome at ground level. Thanks to all the pride pom pom waving and teachers getting a job lot of nice new colourful inclusive books in.

The first rule of safeguarding has always been that you don't promise not to tell someone else what has been disclosed.

So this will be good news to re establish that principle.

Where I'm not sure how it will play out in practice is this "vulnerable" narrative and the inclusion of transphobia within peer on peer abuse in KCSIE.

It's how teaching is then pitched to try to pre empt bullying such as homophobia and transphobia that to me could create an ongoing quagmire of affirmation within schools

The ‘thing’ with Scotland has really spooked politicians - they keep mentioning as the reason to justify stuff in an odd way. It’s like policy is re-jigged as it was a disaster for the popularity of a political party not that policy should be re-jigged because it was wrong in itself.

Schools are told both that trans is not a safeguarding issue, and that trans children are uniquely vulnerable. Which is it?

The schools guidance where we are says: ‘a child or young person… exploring their gender identity does not in itself constitute a safeguarding concern, nor is it something the child’s parents or carers must necessarily be informed of’ , but then repeatedly talks about high levels of vulnerability. If these children are at unusually high risk then it's vital parents are aware. The guidance tells schools that, “Allocating a key member of staff, as would be done for any other vulnerable pupil or student, is an important first step.” (my emphasis)

Again, if these children are deemed to be especially vulnerable and in need of dedicated support, how can they justify not telling parents?

Good. Will await what it is but just plain English like that is welcome

Shows how far down the gender ideology rabbit hole we’ve gone

It’ll be hard I’m sure for it to all come out but we can’t keep lying to dc and covering it up

If schools MUST tell parents about names, then there's going to be

a) a big backlash from newly empowered parents
b) a lot of kids having a massive tantrum over this and being very distressed about it
c) you'll see a lot less social transitioning in schools because safeguarding returns and doing it to fit in won't be so prevalent

The schools are going to find themselves in a really awkward position explaining how they put the ideology first, and mopping up the after effects of this.

My concern is that too many teachers are extremely motivated to peddle this rubbish regardless of guidance, especially if parents aren't complaining.

Re math etc, this from Kirsty and Jolo had me in Stitches

Proof indeed in the pudding. But hooray, somebody has started baking it! Finally! 👏👏
The article from the Times is encouraging. Particularly the reference to "common sense". It feels like express permission not to subscribe to group think and ideological mantras.

Hmmm, proof is in the pudding

Signs of a change? Again, the detail of the actual document is needed:

Rishi Sunak appoints expert group to deliver maths pledge — watch live

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9ad18bc8-dce6-11ed-a0a8-657f9e54fc6a?shareToken=7e80e2951fec8f1f580729abf86cd9df

"Schools have been urged by the education secretary to use a “good dose of common sense” when navigating issues to do with trans students (George Grylls writes).

Gillian Keegan said it was “absolutely fine” for teachers to greet students at single-sex schools by saying, ‘Good morning, girls’.

Her comment comes after a teacher at a private girls school was reportedly forced to apologise for greeting her pupils as “girls”.

She said that new guidance for schools on dealing with trans issues would be released before the summer.

“We can’t mix up sex and gender. We’ve seen what happened in Scotland when it got that round the wrong way,” she said. “Our guidance needs to provide safeguarding for all children and make sure that it does cover all children’s rights as well. So yes, we need to be sensitive, but we also need to have common sense.”"

Unfortunately I think we know there's a battle going on there MrsOvertonsWindow.

After watching triggernomentry this evening with Jamie Reed I'm more concerned than ever about the impact schools have on all this.

This says it'll be published in May:

"Expected to be published in May, it will apply to all state and independent schools in England and is intended to provide clarity on how schools should approach safeguarding children with gender dysphoria.

There are growing concerns among MPs and campaigners that schools are adopting inconsistent approaches to socially transitioning pupilss_ and many appear to be neglecting their safeguarding duties.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, is personally concerned about parental consent and the guidance will set out in significant detail when schools must inform parents about children questioning their gender."

And there's a DfE quote:

"A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Our guidance on minimum standards clearly sets out a school’s legal obligation to provide separate toilets for boys and girls aged eight years or over, except where the toilet facility is intended for use by one pupil at a time and can be secured from the inside.”

“The Education Secretary is working closely with the Minister for Women and Equalities to publish guidance for schools for the summer term on how to respond to children who are questioning their gender identity.”"

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/16/schools-government-guidance-safeguarding-gender-identity/

I really hope there is transparency from now on

On another thread a poster claimed that the school would still not have to do this in some cases (dc at risk)

I find this disconcerting as who is determining this and how is it done

Thank you for sharing. Just read the article.
Although it sounds like they fall short of the mark (thank you for sharing the Transgender Trend analysis @WarriorN ), it's a really positive step that they need to talk to parents and gain agreement before doing any social transition.
When I found out that my daughter's school was making these changes and not informing parents, I was pretty shocked. I don't know numbers but it was certainly enough that the staff member who mentioned it said that it was difficult to keep up with it all.

I'm assuming there will be lots of disclosure around the country shortly, where schools contact parents and let them know what has happened. Given the volumes that we'll be talking about here, it could cause quite a ripple of awakening across all the mainstream press.

Suspect there's a battle going on in the DfE with the sheer volume of trans extremists working there who have no interest whatsoever in safeguarding children or anything that challenges the trans orthodoxy and the silent majority who are finally speaking up.
Fudging this benefits nobody.

Transgender trend thread - highlights a number of issues with the guidance. I'm also concerned about the potential for behaviour management around pronoun use for other pupils, as described in the thread. It's becoming an enormous can of worms.

twitter.com/transgendertrd/status/1647561601707376640?s=46&t=A2fpFNgDRyXF2d6ye97wEA

Here's a share token

Teachers ‘must tell parents about pupils’ gender changes’

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ef466870-dbbc-11ed-b1e2-4c4ae98cfe2f?shareToken=59f77c9e7152f81b08595c63d4e79d25

It’s a step in the right direction but sounds like detail is needed before deciding if it’s still too weak

Long overdue but until I see the details I'm not convinced that the Stonewall captured DfE will produce anything useful.

Unfortunately I can't get the article to load on archive.ph but the excerpt from the OP is very encouraging. It being non-statutory feels odd. Is this so that it can come in more quickly, with statutory guidance to follow? Or do things not work like that?

It’s a move in the right direction but if a child is at significant harm at home because of self expression, I hope the document states social services should be involved rather than expecting teachers to make themselves a target for such parents.

*looking